How do CIBC’s GIC Rates Compare?

When you think about buying a GIC, the first place you’ll often turn to is your main financial institution. But if you’re looking for the best GIC rates and you’re a customer of one of the Big Five banks, you might want to look elsewhere.

Rates

CIBC’s GIC rates are the lowest among the Big Five banks and other financial institutions. On a one-year non-registered and non-redeemable GIC, the rate is just 0.55%.

Most of the large banks offer a rate of 0.85% to 0.9% while other smaller financial institutions offer a rate of more than 1%. As of Nov. 7, here are the rates being offered on one-year non-registered and non-redeemable GICs that are insured by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation:

Financial institution

Interest rate

Oaken Financial

2%

Canadian Direct Financial

1.63%

Equitable Bank

1.5%

PC Financial

1.4%

State Bank of India

1.3%

Tangerine

1.2%

Alterna Bank

1.15%

National Bank

0.9%

RBC Royal Bank

0.9%

BMO Bank of Montreal

0.85%

HSBC

0.85%

Laurentian Bank

0.85%

Scotiabank

0.85%

TD Canada Trust

0.85%

CIBC

0.55%

The chart above shows that CIBC’s rates are lower than all other major financial institutions. For example, the GIC rates at both Tangerine and Alterna Bank are more than twice as much as what CIBC offers. And the rate on Oaken Financial’s GIC rate is more than three times as much as CIBC’s.

The bottom line

Since the Big Five banks don’t offer the best GIC rates, you should shop around if you want to earn a better return on your investment.

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